Women admit to late-term abortion because they didn’t know they were pregnant

According to a study by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, none of the women they surveyed who were seeking late-term abortion were doing so due to a medical issue. None of the women were aborting due to a health risk to themselves or due to a prenatal diagnosis of their preborn child. Each of the women was seeking an abortion after 20 weeks gestation because she simply did not want to have a baby.

According to the study, 60.7 percent of the women who agreed to partake in the research stated that they did not know they were pregnant until they were far along in the pregnancy. Many of those women reported that they did not realize they were pregnant because they were using birth control and therefore did not think they could become pregnant. In addition, the side effects of hormonal contraception can mask the symptoms of pregnancy.

One woman in the study, Catriona, age 20, found out she was pregnant at 22 weeks after having received a birth control implant less than a year earlier. She told researchers that she could not continue the pregnancy because “she has so much she wants to do with her life before having a child.” Catriona reported feeling “upset as she can now feel the pregnancy but feels abortion is the best for her.”

Baby Development Week by Week

Other women in the study reported that they did not realize they were pregnant due to irregular periods. Since they didn’t have a set schedule on which to plan for their period, a missed period was not of concern to them. For example, Jo, age 39, who has irregular periods and was using a birth control pill, did not know she was pregnant until she went in for an emergency scan due to her stomach expanding. It was confirmed she was already 19 weeks pregnant.

A 27-year-old woman seeking a late-term abortion said she did not know she was pregnant because she was breastfeeding her baby at the time. She had three children already and underwent an abortion after 20 weeks because she felt she couldn’t handle another child.

Another reason stated for late-term abortion was the age of the women. Casey, age 15, told the researchers, “I will just have to deal with the cards I have been dealt” and went through with an abortion after 20 weeks. Other teenagers seeking late-term abortion stated that they wanted to complete their education. It seems these women may have felt they had no choice other than abortion.

Other women in the study stated domestic violence as their reason for seeking a late-term abortion. These women chose abortion because they either did not want to be single parents or were afraid of their abusive ex-partners. One woman was 19 weeks pregnant had been living in a protective setting for months, and had a new partner.

Another reason women cited for seeking late-term abortions was the existence of their other children, while others stated they were in “crisis” situations and felt they had to abort. Their reasons included homelessness, illness of a parent, and becoming a widow. Jessica, age 27, said she had four children already and while she “thought she got her life back on track and was ready to have another child” she ultimately “decided it is not the right time.”

While each of these women had an emotional and even heartbreaking story to share, none of them aborted their children after 20 weeks gestation because of health reasons, as the abortion industry would have us believe.

These women were aborting their preborn children (at ages in which the children could be considered viable) simply because they didn’t want to be pregnant. The common abortion procedure for this stage of pregnancy involves using a clamp to rip the child apart limb by limb as explained by former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino in this video:

2nd Trimester Surgical Abortion: Dilation and Evacuation (D & E)

Rather than helping these women — many who felt they had no choice other than abortion — to get back on their feet, finish their education, secure jobs, find homes, and secure childcare, the abortion industry took their money and killed their children.

These women and their families would have been better served by receiving actual help. Instead, the lives of their children were stolen and the abortion industry workers sent these women back out into the same situation they were already in. They were still homeless, still jobless, and still afraid of their abusive ex-partners. Nothing was solved by ending the lives of their preborn children through late-term abortion.

The study by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service isn’t the only time it has been proven that women seek late-term abortions for reasons other than their health. It should be understood that abortion is never necessary to save the life or health of the mother, as explained in this video:

A Conversation with a Former Abortionist: Is abortion ever medically necessary?

Live Action News has previously reported that women have late-term abortions due to pressure from partners, not knowing they were pregnant, or not wanting to be a teenage mother. A writer for the Sacremento News Review visited an abortion facility and learned the truth, stating:

According to clinic staff, women who wait past the first three months of pregnancy do so for countless reasons, some of them tragic, such as when a wanted pregnancy develops some fatal abnormality. Other women can’t decide whether to risk parenthood as teenagers; have partners who discourage abortion; didn’t know they were pregnant (extreme athleticism can disrupt normal menstruation); have partners who die or leave; have a condition in which pregnancy dangerously affects their health; can’t handle the financial burden; are in denial; or postpone their decisions because of drug addiction. Sometimes, women seek abortions because they only want boys, and they’re pregnant with girls.

In addition, abortionist Dr. Martin Haskell told American Medical News in 1993: 

I’ll be quite frank: most of my abortions are elective in that 20-24 week range…. In my particular case, probably 20% are for genetic reasons. And the other 80% are purely elective….